PROPRIETORS’ PROFILE LOS ANGELES
Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo Chefs & Co-Owners Joint Venture Restaurant Group
As they prepare to open the second location of existing brands Petit Trois and Jon & Vinny’s, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo—two of Los Angeles’ most influential chefs—open up about expansion, brotherhood, and their recipe for running a successful culinary empire By Matthew Seukunian
Culture & Taste - Jon & Vinny 1
Age 37 Residence Near the restaurants Family Wife, 2 children Garage Lexus’ and 4 bicycles
Business Over A Drink “One of our restaurants. I feel the most comfortable here.“ Travel Mexico Success I’m trying to figure that out. Mentor Benedikt Taschen
“We’re excited about repeating a restaurant for the first time … we’re doing it twice this year—once with Petit Trois and once with Jon & Vinny’s,” says Jon Shook as I sit with him and his business partner Vinny Dotolo in a not-yet-open-for-the-day Animal on Fairfax Avenue in West Hollywood. In the hour and change spent with the iconic Los Angeles duo (who look the part these days, from the snapbacks to the Vans), one thing is clear: They’re not messing around. “We’re laser focused on everything when we’re in these buildings,” Dotolo says, adding, “I’ve lived, breathed, and oper-
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CULTURE & TASTE
Sponsors All Clad, Delta, Lexus, Vans LA Eateries Matsuhisa, Mario’s Peruvian, Luv2Eat Thai Bistro Up-and-Coming LA Chefs Sara Kramer, Sarah Hymanson, Dano Heinze
VINNY DOTOLO Age 38 Residence Near the restaurants Family Wife, 2 children Garage I don’t have a garage! Business Over A Drink Tiki Ti
ated restaurants with Jon since I was 19 years old… we know restaurants inside and out.” While the calm, cool, and collected confidence they exude seems to come easy, it’s also clear how hard they worked to feel the way they do. And as is often the case, even with hard work, it takes time to achieve success that allows confidence. Manifest Destiny
Shook and Dotolo grew up on opposite shores of Florida before meeting at the Culinary School at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Shook was
Travel Somewhere I haven’t been. Of the places I have, Rome and Tokyo are my favorites. Success Being happy Mentors Michelle Bernstein, Ben Ford, Benedikt Taschen Sponsors All Clad,
Delta, Lexus, Vans LA Eateries Matsuhisa, Gjusta, Gjelina, MTN, Night Market, Burritos LA Palma Up-and-Coming LA Chefs Sara Kramer, Sarah Hymanson, Miles Thompson, Jonathan Whitener
fresh out of high school at the time and Dotolo was one year removed. After culinary school they worked with lauded Miami Chef Michelle Bernstein before heading to Vail, Colo. in 2001 where they worked for Ray Roach, cooking at Wildflower. Miami to Vail? I ask. “Cold,” Shook replies. A little more retrospective, Dotolo notes that while they enjoyed their time in Colorado and certainly made their fair share of friends, they “were not cooking ambitiously.” Following their ambition, they did what many have done before them and headed further west.
Photo: Tim Hans
JON SHOOK
